From the ICU to a New Standard of Mental Health Care

Chris Perez founded Axis Integrated Mental Health because he saw firsthand what happens when the mental health system fails the people inside it. As a nurse anesthetist who spent years in high-acuity hospital settings, including the ICU at Denver Health and six years at Children’s Hospital Colorado, he understood that clinical excellence alone was not enough. Patients needed a system built around their recovery, not around administrative convenience. That realization led him to building one of Colorado’s most recognized mental health practices and a ColoradoBiz Magazine Top Startup of the Year, now serving patients across Denver, Boulder, Westminster, and the Denver Tech Center with advanced treatments that go far beyond traditional medication management.

Chris holds a Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia from Texas Wesleyan University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Regis University, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and Chemistry from Doane College. Before founding Axis, he worked as a CRNA at Children’s Hospital Colorado for nearly six years, served as an ICU nurse at Denver Health, and worked as a quality control chemist at Amgen. His career also includes international medical mission work with Healing the Children Rocky Mountain Chapter, providing surgical care for children with cleft palate disorders. He served as Clinical Director at Axis from 2020 to 2022 before stepping into the CEO role.

Axis Integrated Mental Health operates on a principle Chris calls ‘More Than Meds.’ The practice combines FDA-approved interventional psychiatry, including Deep TMS for treatment-resistant depression and OCD, Spravato (esketamine) nasal spray therapy, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, with traditional medication management and therapy services. What sets the model apart is not just the treatment menu but the infrastructure behind it. Chris built Axis to support providers, not burn them out. By creating a work environment that values clinical autonomy, collaborative decision-making, and fair compensation, the practice attracts and retains clinicians who deliver better patient outcomes. This provider-centered operational model is one of the reasons Axis has grown to serve patients at seven Front Range locations while maintaining the kind of individualized care that larger systems struggle to offer.

For patients dealing with depression that has not responded to antidepressants, anxiety disorders, PTSD, ADHD, or OCD, the Axis treatment model provides options that many Colorado practices simply do not have available. The practice is one of the top treatment providers for both Spravato and Deep TMS in the state.